England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Northborough St Andrew

The Parish

The parish of Northborough lies in the extreme northeast of Northamptonshire forming a stretch of the border with neighbouring Lincolnshire. Northborough is located roughly 7 miles north of the city of Peterborough and 8 miles east of the Lincolnshire town of Stamford. Northborough once sat on the busy A15 road linking Peterborough northwards to Lincoln, thankfully that road now passes west of the village on a newly cut route. It is a little known fact that Northamptonshire extends into a small portion of Fenland and Northborough parish forms part of that area. Early maps show Northborough as a largely linear small village centred upon the route of Church Street, the village has expanded, serving commuters to nearby Peterborough, to the northeast from this area growing almost contiguous with Lincolnshire's Deeping St James. Northborough would have earned its income principally from arable farming, the rich Fenland soils providing an iseal medium for not only the usual crops but also high-value table vegetables, the nearby River Welland, being navigable, was ideally situated to take away the surplus produce. Modern developments, besides the new busy A15, have come to the parish, the railway line connecting Peterborough with Spalding passing through the southeastern corner of the parish. Drainage within the parish is much man-influenced with Northborough sitting between the original course of the Welland and the Maxey Cut designed to short-circuit its convoluted route and speed excess water away to the North Sea arriving through The Wash. Northborough is sited at below 10 metres, a height shared for many a mile until the route of the ancient Roman Road of King Street is reached where 21 metres can be found to the southwest. Northborough was one of its county's smaller parishes, a mere 735 acres supporting a population of close to 250 parishioners. Northborough is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book, much of the area being undeveloped wetlands at that time.

The Church

St Andrew's church sits on the northern side of Church Street at its junction with Church Farm Mews. Many churches are a hotch-potch of eras and styles but St Andrew is perhaps exceptional in its diversity, an original late 12th century or early 13th century church much expanded in a failed scheme to turn it into one of "biggest parish churches in the area" as Pevsner states. The early core is the end with the bellcote which is from the Norman Romanesque era and late 12th century whilst the arcades show the slightly later Early English Gothic style of the 13th century with both circular piers & capitals and double-chamfered arches. To this core was added, in the early 14th century and utilising the Decorated style of that era, firstly the chancel quickly followed by the transeptal southern chapel, the latter standing at c1350 on the cusp of the style change to Perpendicular. That southern chapel is perhaps the church's most unusual feature being taller than the main body and dominating views, it ends in a spectacular 5-light window between twin polygonal turrets, a theatre-piece of complex style and grace. Internally the church has some remnants of wall-paintings potentially 13th century in origin and worth a look. For once Pevsner does not mention a Victorian intervention so perhaps it was merely light & sensitive to the building's history. Parking in Church Farm Mews is simple allowing a relaxed visit. Wooden gates through the local limestone walling give access to a churchyard that has few obstacles for the photographer.